Why must a VH1 Behind the Music -type look at a musician’s life be dreary and downward-spiraling? The same predictable arc, the rehabbed/sober/sad denouement. Now, finally — a film about rock music that is enlightening and uplifting, sex-filled and salacious. It’s Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll — the romping, technicolor biopic of Brit punk visionary Ian Drury, who doesn’t stop for a second to mope that the Sex Pistols ripped him off. “Never let it be said that my failure went to my head,” Drury (Andy Serkis) tells his gorgeous girlfriend — rolling another page into the type-writer to pound out another page of brilliantly off-kilter lyrics.

Drury, the real-life lyricist and front-man of late-70s punk pioneers Ian Drury and the Blockheads, is played with a chuckle by Andy Serkis in this film by Mat Whitecross, who previously collaborated with Michael Winterbottom (of the similarly sunshin-y 24 Hour Party People). The film is a tongue-in-cheek biopic — cutting from staged concerts fronted by Serkis (whose vocals are surprisingly close) to deliberately over-the-top, jewel-toned scenes of Drury’s cruel childhood and his lavish years of fame. But we take our cue from the film’s titles that this film is not just about Drury — it’s about the entire mood of ’60s and ’70s London. During the credits, Monty Python-esque paper cutouts show Drury and the Blockheads zooming through Camden, whose skies are lit with rainbows of Mod colorblocks. And it’s clear that Drury’s hopes for punk says as much about the era as they do about his individual spirit.

Having contracted polio at an early age, Drury — crippled by the disease — lands in a cruel orphanage, with all the crisp nurses and iron lungs of a good Roald Dahl story. There, he’s pushed by a cruel orphanage warden (Toby Jones) to learn to stand up for himself. As Drury tells his son later, “Being the underdog is the best place to start.” With that kind of upbringing, he’s unfazed by a shower of beer bottles hurled onstage at an early Blockheads gig. He’s committed to music — so much so that he doesn’t interrupt a practice session to head upstairs and comfort his wife Betty (Olivia Williams) who is in labor with their son, Baxter (Bill Milner). And when she brings the baby down while he keeps smoking a cigarette, we see quickly that one man cannot be unfailingly committed to two things.

For as the band’s fame slowly rises and the partying scenes increase, his relationship with his son slackens. Still, the film doesn’t chide Drury for it. And there are times when we certainly envy Baxter — who’s allowed to play hooky, attend pool parties with rock stars, and rock out on a drum kit while the rest of his peers are in Catholic school. (One hilarious scene sees Drury’s devililsh chums actually putting a lampshade on Baxter’s head so they can continue with their antics.) This might be a film “with lots of heart” but thankfully, it never stops one moment to consider it. Relationships unfold as they do in real life — brusquely, without lots of reflection.

Drury’s marriage was one of much plate hurtling. So he ditches it for a young lover — the gorgeous Naomie Harris, whose buffed glowing skin should get its own spot in the film’s credits. She sees his genius where others don’t and somehow takes it upon herself to comfort and support this man who barely repays her. That’s never explained as much as we’d like it to be; and neither is Drury’s downward spiral. (He pours cereal and milk on a mixing board after he’s criticized by a producer… Yum!)

But these iffy plot moments are nothing if not fun. And isn’t that what rock is all about? After all — why do men break guitars, slather themselves with bananas onstage, or spit at the audience? It’s the illogical nature of rock, which doesn’t like to reflect. “I am no here to be remembered,” Drury, smirking, tells a critic. “I am here to be alive.”

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Directed by Mat Whitecross
Starring: Andy Serkis, Ray Winstone, Olivia Williams, Naomie Harris, Mackenzie Crook, Bill Milner